Book Review: Hiero's Journey

Book Review: 'Hiero's Journey'
Hiero's Journey

The Unforsaken Hiero 
by Sterling Lanier

5 / 5 Stars

‘Hiero’s Journey’ first was published by Chilton books in hardcover in 1973. A Bantam paperback edition was released in 1973, and a Del Rey paperback in 1983. 

A sequel, ‘The Unforsaken Hiero’, was released in 1983 by Del Rey. 

[Apparently, Lanier had prepared a third manuscript, with the intention of completing a Hiero trilogy, but it never saw publication.] 

Both Del Rey versions had excellent cover art by Darrell Sweet.

All these editions, being long out of print, nowadays have ever-steeper asking prices. 

An omnibus edition of both novels, titled ‘Hiero Desteen’ (532 pp), was published by the Science Fiction Book Club / Doubleday in 1984 and while it, too, has high asking prices, it probably is the most economical way to obtain the series. I was able to find a rather beat-up copy at Wonder Book and Video in Frederick, MD, for under $5.

Sterling Lanier (1927 – 2007) was an American sci-fi and fantasy author who, during the 60s, 70s and 80s, wrote a number of short stories for the digests, including many entries in the so-called ‘Brigadier Ffellowes’ series. Along with the two novels in the ‘Hiero Desteen’ series, Lanier wrote ‘Menace Under Marswood’ (1983), another sc-fi novel, for Del Rey.

In addition to being a writer of science fiction, Lanier is remembered as an editor who made a momentous decision: in the mid-60s, while an editor for Chilton books, who mainly published manuals for automobiles, Lanier received the manuscript for 'Dune' and persuaded the company to publish the book in hardcover. 'Dune' of course became a publishing phenomenon, thanks to Lanier’s willingness to have Chilton take a chance and issue its first-ever fiction title.

I remember reading the Hiero novels back in the early 80s, and finding them quite entertaining. How do they stack up when re-read nearly fifty years later ? Quite well, all things considered.......... 

The novels are set in North America, some 5,000 years after the late 20th century and the advent of World War Three (referred to as ‘the Death’). Most of the continent is a wilderness inhabited by small outposts of civilization. Due to the effects of radiation, mutant animals of all types have evolved to roam the fields, swamps, and forests. Some are harmless, while others are ferocious predators that must be treated with respect - if not fear. 

The territory of Kanda (i.e., Canada) is governed by the Metz Republic, which in turn operates under the precepts of the Kandan Universal Church, a kind of post-apocalyptic manifestation of Catholicism. The titular Hiero Desteen is a priest in the Church, and, despite his youth, an experienced woodsman and explorer.

Technology in North America is at a 19th-century level, but the absence of communications infrastructure is compensated for by the telepathic abilities of the priestly class of the Metz Republic. Hiero Desteen’s telepathy is powerful enough to enable him to befriend a sentient moose, named Klootz, and an intelligent bear named Gorm. 

These animals accompany Hiero on his eponymous Journey south from Kanda into the vast wilderness of what once was known as the United States. Hiero’s mission ? Find and recover a lost technology that will aid the Metz Republic in its clandestine war against the Dark Brotherhood, a coalition of fanatics who seek to empower themselves by reviving the destructive forces of the pre-apocalyptic era.

In his adventures in 'Hiero's Journey' and 'The Unforsaken Hiero', Hiero will encounter all manner of deadly adversaries, such as a psychic vampire who plucks its victims as they trudge though the marshes; S'duna, the malevolent leader of the Brotherhood who oversees a specialized torture chamber; and a mutated slime mold capable of absorbing and digesting grown men. 

But Hiero will benefit from the company of both human and animal allies in his struggle with the forces of evil. And the ultimate conflict to decide the future of Kanda will be decided by the clash of armies on the shores of the Lake of Weeping............

I mused long and hard as to whether or not the Hiero novels deserved a four star or a five star score. In the end, I settled on a five star score. 

While it's true that in the second volume the narrative begins to get a bit repetitive, it's also true that author Lanier's prose style throughout the series is clear and devoid of New Wave era self-indulgence. The books include an interesting collection of memorable characters and villains. The books impart their overarching theme of eco-awareness, and the benefits of a Return to Nature, in a subtle manner that avoids belaboring the reader with a 'message'. And the second volume culminates in a well-crafted battle scene that, although providing a predictable ending, does so in a suspenseful manner.

And finally, 'Hiero's Journey' and 'The Unforsaken Hiero' are, first and foremost, fun. They don't take themselves too seriously (a sin made by many New Wave era novels), and they provide a very readable, modernized interpretation of the Planetary Romance genre. Accordingly, I'm comfortable with a five-star rating for the Hiero novels.